This disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless network communication, and in particular to a basic service set (BSS)/personal basic service set (PBSS) support and schedule-free networking in millimeter wave or high-frequency communication networks.
Devices in a wireless network operating, using the IEEE 802.11 architecture, are set up to either communicate with the assistance of a central station (STA)—an access point (AP)—or directly, one to the other, without any assistance from the access point. The first is called “Infrastructure Mode” and the other is called “Ad Hoc” mode (also called peer-to-peer or contention-free service). Either mode may be selected for a wireless network, however all devices communicating directly with each other must use the same mode. Beacon frames are used to signal which of these two modes is in operation within the network. The length of the beacon interval is a programmable parameter and it is adjusted with this invention so that an optimum amount of isochronous audio data can be sent to the receivers, with minimum system delay. A 802.11 network can operate according to a single one of these architectures at a time, and the architecture in use is signaled through the Capability Information field carried in the Beacon and Probe Response frames the AP transmits in an infrastructure BSS or a STA transmits in a IBSS. Standard usages for this wireless architecture include web browsing, internet access, backup, etc.
However, work has been initiated to amend the 802.11 standard for mmWave (60 GHz) usages, which are of very different nature than traditional 802.11 usages. Mmwave usages and applications include wireless display, sync&go, wireless computing, which are not covered by the 802.11 standard. MMW (millimeter band or mmW) is a radio frequency band having a wavelength of ten to one millimeter or from 30 to 300 Gigahertz in frequency. Compared to lower bands of radiation, terrestrial radio signals in this band are extremely prone to atmospheric attenuation, making them difficult to use of long distances.
Conventional scheduled access mechanisms, such as 15.3, WiMAX, etc., require the client STAs to decode and parse the network scheduling information, which tends to increase complexity at all STAs associated with the network. What is needed is to provide a simpler (schedule-free) implementations for scheduled access protocols.